Earphones are widely used with portable music players for personal entertainment. Practical implementation of such devices for easy and comfortable use is of particular importance.
Furthermore, earphones and portable music players are increasingly used by joggers to provide entertainment during their runs. Many considerations go into the design of earphones for joggers, for instance, durability, weight, size, comfort and disturbances to movements.
With regard to disturbances to movements, one problem is that wires connecting the earphone set to the portable music player tend to get in the way during jogging. While wireless technology may be used, a problem is that separate power supply is required for the earphone set and the portable music player.
With regard to earphones suitable for joggers, it is observed that a jogger usually needs to slow down or stop jogging to look at the portable music player to, for instance, adjust the volume of the music played or to skip/select the music track played. While some earphones are integrated with controllers for volume and music control, this would usually restrict the use of earphones to those that are compatible to operate with the portable music player.
Sometimes during jogging, it may be necessary to remove the earphones or to switch off the music so that external sounds such as oncoming traffic or car horns can be heard when crossing a road. It may be hazardous if the shutting down control on the portable media player is not readily accessible. Removing the earphones and putting them back on again can also be a hassle.
In addition, portable music players suitable for joggers are usually integrated with a rechargeable battery. If the battery power runs out, it would be necessary to charge the battery before it can be used again. In the meantime, the player cannot be used when the battery is charging. Consequently, the jogger is stranded without any entertainment when this occurs.
A need therefore exists to provide an earphone set that addresses at least one of the above-mentioned problems.